


Surviving

by nflove



Series: Repainting Golden [2]
Category: Men's Basketball RPF
Genre: Caretaking, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Love, M/M, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 02:55:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19286674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nflove/pseuds/nflove
Summary: Steph helps Klay open up.  They keep pushing through and manage to find a little bit of joy in life again.





	Surviving

Klay awoke to a searing pain in his knee. 

“Fuck.” He said through gritted teeth. He pressed his clenched fists into the mattress and tried to breathe steadily and quietly so as not to wake Steph. He began to sweat as the pain intensified, a dull ache entering his heart as he was once again confronted with the unsavory reality of his situation.  Healing was going to be freaking painful. His eyes began to sting with tears as he tried to will away the pain, a bitter taste filling his mouth. Suddenly a loud sob racked his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut and bit down on his fist.

 

Steph rolled over squinting into the dark.

“Klay?” he asked, voice streaked with sleep, “you good?”

Klay swallowed heavily.

“Can you…get me….some meds?” Klay said, trying desperately to keep his voice level.

“Yeah.” Steph said, slowly getting up and stumbling over to the bathroom.  He flicked on the bathroom light, sending a dim glow across the bedroom.  After a minute of fiddling with all the stuff from the doctor, Steph walked over and placed a few pills in Klay’s hand.  Klay swallowed the pills silently as Steph returned to the bed.

“Thanks.” Klay said, grimacing as his voice cracked.

“Hold up, Klay are you crying?”

“I’m just…” Klay dragged a hand over his face. “I’m just in my feelings right now… go back to sleep Steph.”

“No.” _Damn why did he have to be like this._

“Steph, please. You don’t need me bothering you.” Klay struggled to steady his voice.

“Klay, I can’t have you crying next to me while I sleep. It doesn’t work like that. Talk to me.” _Why was it so simple for Steph to break down his walls._

Tears began streaming down Klay’s face faster and harder. “Please, just ignore me Steph. I don’t wanna be making more problems for you. And now I’m just waking you up looking like some weak ass…this isn’t me. I swear this injury took something from me ‘cause I’m not like this…”

Steph took Klay’s body in his hands, hugging him as he gradually relaxed into the touch.  Steph rubbed Klay’s back, wishing he could transmit love through his fingertips or somehow take away Klay’s pain.

 

Once Klay’s tears had dwindled off, Steph took Klay’s head in his hands.

“Look at me Klay. You got nothing to prove. Okay?”

Klay nodded slightly.

“I _know_ you are strong. I know what you’re made of. When you’re hurting, you tell me, okay? It’s not weakness. It’s not a bother or … inconvenience.. – why do you think I came here? I _want_ to be here with you, believe me.”

 

Steph traced his thumbs over Klay’s eyebrows.  Overcome by the admiration and care in Steph’s eyes, Klay ducked his head catching Steph’s lips in a deep kiss. When they broke, Klay smiled, “ _now_ , you can go back to sleep Curry.”

 

 

The alarm went off at 8:00.  Steph reached over to shut it off, then ran a hand through Klay’s hair. 

“Klay, you awake?”

“No.”

“Sleeptalker, hm? We gotta get up.”

 

Eventually they made their way out of bed. Steph threw on one of Klay’s hoodies.  It was way too big for him, but Klay liked seeing Steph in his clothes.  After brushing their teeth and gathering Klay’s meds, they made their way downstairs. Klay took a seat at the table and Steph sauntered into the kitchen. “Yo Klay, Chef Curry’s ready to make you some bomb breakfast. Whaddayawant?”

Klay shook his head, laughing. “Uhhh…eggs?”

“Some delicious ‘uhhh eggs’ coming right up!” Steph said spinning around exaggeratedly to grab a spatula.

“Dude, you’re… indescribable.” He trailed off quietly.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing, Steph.” Klay laughed.

“Okay I see how it is!” Steph said sarcastically.

“Focus on your eggs.”

“These are _your_ eggs bro.”

Steph reached into the spice cabinet.

“What are you putting in it?”

“It’s my secret ingredient. Don’t question the chef.”

It was refreshing seeing Steph like this. Klay couldn’t help but smile as his point guard danced across his kitchen throwing weird shit into his eggs.  It was pretty nice to be able to wake up to this instead of an empty house.  Steph placed the eggs down in front of Klay taking a seat across from him.  Klay took a bite.

“Mmm not bad! Compliments to the chef.”

Steph smiled, stealing a bite from across the table.

Steph kicked Klay’s flip flop under the table. “You gonna put on normal shoes for the MRI?”

“Nah…”

“You gonna wear that outside?”  
“Guess you’ll have to carry me to the car.”

“You’re lucky I like your lazy ass.” Steph said hoisting Klay into his arms.  “Damn you’re like 30 pounds heavier than me.”

“It’s your fault for feeding me those eggs.”

“Yooo.” Steph said, trying to stop smiling. “Just get in the car.”

 

As they drove along the roads, they had traced the previous night, it was like driving through an unfamiliar universe.  Something in the air tasted different.  They laughed at each other, singing along to the radio until the hospital came into view.  When they pulled into the parking lot, Steph looked over at Klay. “You ready?”

“Yeah, I‘m good.”

“Okay gimme a kiss before we get out of the car.”

They kissed briefly, then Klay clapped his hands together, “let’s do this.”

 

They walked across the parking lot and entered the hospital before being escorted into a private waiting room.  In a minute, the doctor emerged, “Klay. You can come in now.”

 

Steph gave Klay a bro hug but held his hand a little longer at the end. “I’ll wait for you out here.”


End file.
